Ceramides are a group of naturally occurring compounds having the formula shown in FIG. 1, where m=10-16 and n=12-24. Ceramides and ceramide derivatives are believed to play an important role in the water permeability properties of the skin, functioning to give increased strength to the skin structure to decrease water loss and so improve the condition of the skin, and it is known to use ceramides and ceramide derivatives as components of skin care compositions.
Certain non-naturally occurring variants of ceramides, known as pseudoceramides, have been synthesised or proposed. Generally these are designed to have certain properties similar to those of ceramides and to mimic the behaviour of ceramides in relation to the skin so as to be usable in skin care compositions as cheaper substitutes in place of naturally occurring skin ceramides.
Known pseudoceramides include those described in EP 0420722 A of L'Oreal and EP 0482860 A of Unilever.
The present invention is based on a novel class of pseudoceramides.